Bill, Ben and Derek
Plot Bill and Ben love playing tricks on other engines, especially Derek and Timothy, because Derek can be a bit vulnerable while Timothy is nearly as gulliable as Paxton. One November morning, the China Clay Works was very busy, but Edward and BoCo had to take care of passenger duties, so Derek was placed at the Works. "Now I don't want any tricks," he said as he entered the Works. Bill and Ben giggled. "Oh of course Derek. I'm sure." said Ben. Derek eyed the twins suspiciously and oiled over to Timothy. "I'd be careful around them," worried Timothy, "Last night they pushed me under the hopper and said I was sleeppuffing last night." Derek chuckled. "It's alright, I know them fairly well now." "Lets hope so," thought Timothy as the engines set to work. Derek worked hard all morning, bringing trucks down to the harbour and back. But Bill and Ben were being their typical cheeky selves. "Hey Timothy, think fast!" and Ben bumped the trucks into the oil-burning engine. "Hey!" cried Timothy. Bill and Ben laughed. "Sorry... not!" said Ben. Derek arrived with some empty trucks. "That's enough you two. We don't need you two ruining the business." said Derek sternly. Bill and Ben groaned and puffed away. They were very disappointed. "Well, if we can't have fun with Timothy," decided Bill, "Lets have fun with Derek." "Yeah! BoCo isn't here anyway." Ben agreed, so the twins started to make up a plan. By the time noon came, Bill and Ben had the plan set up. "He still has teething troubles," Bill said, "so I suggest we get him to pull a long train to the Docks! He won't be able to pull and he'll get stuck!" "Brilliant!" giggled Ben. In the main area of the China Clay Works, Timothy had three lines of trucks, one for Bill, one for Ben, and one for Derek. "Alright Bill, pretend you are ill so Derek can take your trucks," said Ben. Bill agreed and started coughing. "Oh my Bill, are you alright?" asked Timothy worriedly, "You don't look so good." "I'm ill," Bill wheezed. "Oh dear," said Timothy, "The manager must make new arrangements!" and he went off to tell the manager about Bill. When he came back, the manager had already made up the plan. "Derek, I'm afraid you'll have to take Bill's trucks as well as your own. Can you do it?" he asked. Derek gulped, unsure. "I suppose so sir. I'll try my hardest." "Good," said the manager, "Timothy, take Bill to the shed." "Yes sir!" Bill secretly winked at Ben as he was shunted into the shed. Derek set off with his load, but no sooner had he left the clay pits had he felt his engine grow hot. "Ugh driver, I'm not feeling so well!" "Come on ol' boy, you have to keep on going." "I'll try!" promised Derek, but the load was very heavy, and Derek had a hard time pulling. Derek was just about to round the bend to the Docks when black smoke flew from his engine. "Oh no! I feel all hot and bothered!" cried Derek and his driver braked. The guard noticed this and walked out of the brakevan. "What's the problem?" asked the guard. "Our engine broke down," explained Derek's driver, "I'll call for help." He called the Docks to send an engine. At the Docks, BoCo was dropping off passengers. "This is the life," he said cheerfully. "Argh, I can agree to that matey!" said Salty. Suddenly BoCo's driver's cell phone rang. "Just a minute," he said and he answered. "Yeah? Oh no, Derek! We'll be right over." and he hung up. "Derek broke down near the entrance to the Docks, BoCo. We have to go and help him." "What about my passengers?" asked BoCo worriedly. "Don't worry about those. Edward can take them, now lets hurry up!" and BoCo hurried away. "Good riddance," muttered Cranky. BoCo soon arrived where Derek was coughing at. "Derek, why do you have such a long train?" asked BoCo, surprised, "You're not supposed to take that long of a train." "I know," sighed Derek, "But Bill was ill at the China Clay Works so I had to take his trucks as well." BoCo grew concerned ."Bill and Ben... Hmm, I get the feeling Bill just pretended to be ill so he could get you into trouble." Derek was surprised. "Oh no!" Later, BoCo turned out to be right. Some workmen were inspecting Bill to find nothing wrong. "Your engine has pretended to be ill." they said crossly to the manager. "Oh great..." groaned the manager and he sternly walked up to Bill and Ben. "Uh oh," said Ben worriedly. "Bill, I am very displeased with you. You pretended to be ill so Derek could break down!" Bill gulped. Ben was relieved and started to puff away. "Oh no you don't!" said the manager, "You two are twins, so I'm sure you had something to do with it too." Ben was cross. "It was your fault Bill!" "No!" "Yes!" "Just be quiet," cried the manager, "I'll lecture you more later. In the meantime, stay in the shed while Timothy and BoCo handle the work themselves." Bill and Ben were very sad indeed. Derek was on a siding at Wellsworth, waiting to be taken to the Dieselworks; Edward had placed him there until an engine was avaliable to take him to Vicarstown. Gordon rushed by with the express, surprising Derek. "Bye bye, little Diesel!" Gordon called. Derek sighed. "Oh dear, I'm going to stay on this siding for ages!" Suddenly a Diesel horn rolled in the distance. "Who's that?" wondered Derek. He soon found out. Dennis oiled along the line with a goods train full of parts for the Dieselworks. "Bother," he grumbled, "This is heavy. The coupling is too tight, can't you loosen it? Geez, these trucks need to be in better condition!" The stationmaster flagged Dennis down at the station. "What do you want?" spluttered Dennis. "Derek needs to be taken to the Dieselworks, and you're going there. We can multitask, shall we say." said the stationmaster. Dennis looked at Derek and scowled. "The one with the teething troubles? Pah! I've got enough work as it is without hauling that bulky thing around all the time!" The stationmaster sighed, "Just do it, will you?" "Of course," said the driver and Dennis was uncoupled from his train. He protested as he was coupled up to Derek, and Derek ended up between Dennis and the train. "Oh, please do get going," said Derek, "I need my engine fixed quickly." Dennis scowled as he exited Wellsworth, and started up Gordon's Hill. With Derek's weight and his laziness, it was hard work getting to the top of the hill. "Ugh, you're heavy," Dennis complained, but soon he was able to get over the hill. "Wee!" cried Dennis as he and Derek raced down the other side with the train. "Slow down!" cried Derek. "Pah!" snorted Dennis, "That's work!" Derek was scared. "Oh no, we're going to derail!" Dennis rolled his eyes as they raced through Maron, and onto the viaduct. Dennis and Derek soon arrived at Cronk to pick up a truck of machinery. "Bother that Derek," Dennis thought, "I've got to rid of him somehow." He thought up a plan, and suddenly got it. He started coughing. "What's wrong?" asked his driver. "I can't start..." groaned Dennis. The driver knew Dennis' lazy ways, but was surprised to find that Dennis wouldn't budge. "Oh no, no we need an engineer..." and he telephoned for help. At Wellsworth, BoCo was resting in the yard when the call came. "Apparently Dennis refuses to move with Derek," sighed BoCo's driver, "We'll have to go and help." BoCo was cross. "How many times are engines going to fake breakdowns?" he spluttered, but he soon went up the hill to give Derek and Dennis a push. "Bother.." he grumbled. When he arrived, Dennis was faking coughs and ignored his driver's commands. "Come on, move!" growled the driver. Dennis just rolled his eyes. BoCo was cross as he arrived. "Dennis, you have caused delays," BoCo sighed. Dennis chuckled ."Doesn't matter at all." he said. BoCo bumped the brakevan and pushed Derek and Dennis, as well as the machine parts to the Dieselworks. At the Dieselworks, Den and Dart were waiting. "Where were you Dennis?" asked Dart crossly. "Yeah, we've been waiting. Well, uh, what I mean is..." "What Den means to say is that we've been waiting for hours." "We've had multiple stops," explained BoCo, "Derek needed to be repaired so he was coupled up at Wellsworth, but then Dennis pretended to break down at Cronk, so I had to come and get him." Den and Dart looked to each other. "Oh." was all Den said. The Dieselworks manager came storming out crossly. "I will notify your controller," he said sternly, "Your laziness is too much to bear at the moment. BoCo, bring Derek and the machinery in so we can have him repaired. "Yes sir," said BoCo. At the China Clay Works that evening, Edward, BoCo, and Timothy all gave Bill and Ben lectures about how Derek is a useful engine, and works hard. "And," finished Marion, "He's reliable, unlike you two who mess aronud all the time." Bill and Ben hadn't paid any attention to any of the engines who lectured though. They yawned. "Next time you prepare a speech, try and be interesting." said Ben. "Don't you realize what you've done? Now you two have to do more work." said BoCo sternly. "You don't miss Derek at all?" asked Timothy. "Oh please, he's just a clutz, breaking down all the time," snorted Bill. "We don't miss him at all." agreed Ben. But that's another story... Characters *Gordon *Bill and Ben *BoCo *Derek *Salty *Dennis *Den *Dart *Timothy *Marion *Cranky *Edward (does not speak) * Porter (cameo) *Isobella (cameo) *Paxton (mentioned) Trivia *Bill and Ben's trick is similar to Thomas and Percy's trick in the seventh season episode What's the Matter with Henry?. Category:Sodor Adventures